Brighton’s Roberto de Zerbi on Leandro Trossard: “Football is a serious matter”

Brighton manager Robert de Zerbi has opened up about his frosty relationship with Leandro Trossard, who is now seeking to leave the club this month.

Trossard’s agent had released a public statement, criticising De Zerbi’s stance towards his client and stating that the only solution is to leave Brighton.

De Zerbi recently spoke to La Repubblica in an exclusive interview and he talked about a host of topics, ranging from his team’s form, win over Liverpool and the idea of picking Brighton. He was also asked about Trossard and he didn’t take any prisoners about the issue.

“Nothing special happened with Trossard. But if you don’t push to the max in training and in matches, maybe you have a personal problem, which you have to tell me, otherwise I can’t help you. But if you don’t tell me nothing, football is a serious matter, it must be respected: football gives everything, but you have to give it everything.

“That is to say, commit yourself 100%. If someone doesn’t do it, I’ll let them know. Trossard’s agent can say what he wants. Maybe he’s doing this to take away the player for a less amount of money to another team. Of course, Trossard didn’t tell me the truth.”

The Italian further stated: “Everyone in the dressing room knows what the reality is, and what happened. I don’t have to apologize. Having said that, it’s not a closed issue for me. If Trossard comes back and does things right, I’m willing to let him play. But it’s not up to me, it’s up to him.”

Trossard had scored a hat-trick against Liverpool in De Zerbi’s Brighton debut he was not selected for multiple games recently, leading to question marks about his future and discipline. The Belgian has been linked with moves to Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea in recent days.

The Seagulls are soaring high in the Premier League and are currently at seventh in the table, only three points behind Tottenham.

 

 

Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN

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